Tag: Titan

A taciturn cypher like Lee Marvin or Jean Gabin, ‘Scu romps through the apartment like an early 70’s Pontiac with a big inch motor and skinny tires, with lots of noise and little traction. Skid-skid-skid-BAM!
And no brakes to speak of. Even the other two are just spectators, turning to us just to make sure we saw it too. Entertaining? You bet.
Yeah, but he’s dangerous all right. Tito’s found out more than once that trying to wrap a paw around Titanescu’s shoulders and trying to lick him forcefully results in a quick smack down, jiu-jitsu-like, with the old cat towering over him. There’s no viciousness though, just a quick throw down and they move on.
But even when he tries to snuggle up to the humans, the magnificent bastard is full of peril.
Partly because he likes to stretch and his claws come out as a result, Wolverine-like.

So I was getting texts at work last Sunday from Rhuda-an, lurid descriptions about severe pain on one side of her face. Talking about a possible trip to the Emergency Room, even. Something about a fat lip following a puncture.
One thing about Titanescu enjoying naps on his humans is that he sometimes will accidentally stick a claw in tender flesh. Another thing is that… Well, he’s a bit nasty. I guess that’s why Tito tries to bathe him occasionally, and he deserves mucho praise for his hygienic efforts.
Because frankly, there is no way I would ever try and bathe the Ancient One: I need my fingers and I only have one face. He could alter the course of my existence in one swipe. People just have no idea, none, about how strong he is.
But. he also is not the daintiest cat, very far from it. So when that claw went into her lip on what we guess must have been Saturday or possibly Friday, she made the oh-so-sorry mistake of waiting for it to hurt before deploying Peroxide and Neosporin.

What do I tell people at work when they ask how was my weekend? Oh, I watched a movie, pretty sure it was “Apocalypse Now”, but I think it had Edward Scissorhands in it.

Uh-huh… Yeah.

Rudha-an here. After seeing a doc and getting a scrip for an antiobiotic, my face and lip are slowly returning to normal.

I have been trying to sort some pics from our last walk in the rain and I finally got it done. Here they are. We played around with different settings on our phone (Samsung S3), which will explain why there are two pics of the bridge, etc.

From the pier, we went over to Fort Point to see the Bridge. The sun was beginning to break through the clouds.

Skyline from Fort Point by Rudha-anAnother view of the skyline from Fort Point by Rudha-anGolden Gate Bridge by Rudha-anThe Bridge in B & W with only the reds and yellows coming through by Rudha-anAnother view of the skyline in blues this time by LastechThe skyline in black & white by Lastech

From Fort Point we wandered over to Crissy Field.

Crissy Field by LastechAlcatraz (right) and Angel Island (left) by LastechCrissy Field by LastechCrissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge by Rudha-anHappy bird by Lastech

I was intending to post something during the week, but it got a tad stressful here. On Tuesday morning at 7 am, they started to work on the wall of our building. Our bedroom is on one side of the wall and their work on the other side. They were stripping the plaster off to prep it for the new building going in next door.

This was the view out the window at 7 am

This was the view later in day

The arrow points to our boarded up window.

The funny part about the whole thing was that my phone went off at 11:30 that day. I couldn’t answer it because the noise level was far too high. It was the landlady, but she didn’t leave a voice mail. She called again at noon on Wednesday and since the crew was on break, I answered. The convo went like this…

Her: The crew wanted me to call and tell you that they would be working on your wall and that it would be noisy.
Me: I know. They started yesterday at 7 am.
Her: I tried to call you yesterday, but you didn’t answer.
Me: The construction noise was too loud for me to answer

It was absurd

Anyhow, It time for the pointy eared people to shine. They have really adjusted well to the constant construction racket. Jenny is doing exceptionally well, given her normal levels of paranoia. 🙂

Ok, it was more like a very heavy drizzle, but it was wonderful. We went out in it and got soaked before we were done. I hope to have some pics up in a day or two. The construction continues with all the noise and dust. Pfffft! At least the pointy eared people are less panicked now.

Now it’s time for the pointy eared people to shine.

Tito is not amused by the cameraMiss Jenny is bird watchingTitan in dreamland

I have a construction update this week. While we still have a kitchen window, there’s no view to speak of, so I took this from across the street.

With Lastech on swing shift, we had to go run errands early today that almost caused me to forget what day it was. To make matter worse, Tito has made it a point to run when he sees the camera. What can you do? 🙂

Gotcha Tito!Jenny and her mouse toyTitanescu

I light of my last post about seagull youngsters, here’s a good bird fight vid.

The beat of hammers, that is. Progress is being made, even today. They don’t work on Sundays, thank goodness. The fleas are still an issue, but getting much better. Thanks to the humidity, I have to reapply the Diotomaceous earth (food grade) on a regular basis, but I made sure I got enough to do that.

I had a post prepared for midweek, but I had to go off and deal with jury duty and issues with the apartment. I’ll try to post it tomorrow.

Here are the furbabies

Tito soaking up a sunbeamMiss Jenny playing peek-a-booTitanescu staring at Miss Jenny. Notice the cute little nubbie he sports.Titanescu is always watching

As for the construction….

This is the view out our window taken at 12:01 pm today. As he’s welding, I’ve closed the window and covered it so that no one gets singed eyeballs.

Now for something unique. There was a traffic jam on the Golden Gate Bridge right in the middle of the evening rush hour.

The deer (black-tailed) made it across safely and vanished into the headlands that are visible in the vid. 🙂

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We’re plugging along as usual. Life here is interesting this weekend. A large section of one of our freeways was closed for earthquake retrofit. Yesterday’s gridlock was amazing. Lucky for Lastech, his work hours helped to keep him out of the worst of it.

The fleas are almost gone now and the beasties are much happier. They even managed a good romp or two. They’re also a bit more relaxed with the construction outside, but I’m careful to NOT let the Feliway diffuser go dry. 🙂

Tito is relaxing in the rocking chairMiss Jenny watching the neighborhood from the doll bed.Titanescu keeping the laptop warm

As for the construction, it’s ongoing. I still have a kitchen window for the moment, so I can keep tabs on the work.They are making progress.

The flea problem has eased up. The kitties are free of them and the apartment is mostly clear. The food grade diatomaceous earth has worked very well. I think it will take a while before they completely relax, but they’re rebounding quickly. The construction next door is still noisy, but I think they’ve adjusted to it somewhat.

TitoMiss Jenny is as snug as a bug in a quilted kitty bed. The bed was a gift from Auntie Grace.Here’s Titan looking rather dapper and mellow.

The fleas are dying and the kitties are much happier. We got them some Advantage and I dusted the apartment with non toxic food grade Diatomaceous Earth. It works well. We also have (thanks to a friend) a couple of flea traps set out. The nearby construction has been on hold, thank goodness. The poor kitties have been through enough.

In the midst of all this, poor Titanescu must have pulled a muscle or something. His right hind leg was hurting him to the point that he cried and limped. Titanescu doesn’t cry, so I know it was bad. Lucky for all of us, he’s already much better today.

Tito resting on a boxTitanescu resting in a box in the windowMiss Jenny not resting on a box

Speaking of Miss Jenny… If you remember, she took up tater stealing a while back. She decided to expand her horizons.

I went to the cupboard the other morning to find this

When I went to clean up the mess, I decided to carefully pick up the shredded roll with a sheet of paper. I placed it on the table and looked at it. It was a work of art!

Yes, we have fleas. Lord knows where they came from. I’m guessing that the drought and the construction next door stirred them up. In our twelve years in this apartment on the second floor, we have never had fleas or any other bugs. Ok, we had the occasional ant swarm, but those were easily dealt with. Poor kitties. As if the construction wasn’t bad enough… We’ll take care of it.

I managed to get a few pics. Between the fleas and the construction, it has been difficult.

TitoMiss JennyTitan looking rather silly

Here’s the construction update. We had cement trucks parked and running right outside our window for a little more than 5 hrs. The kitties were NOT amused.

We still have a kitchen window and this is the view. The bottom right corner is my window sill. The wall you see close by isn’t the outside wall of the next building. It’s a hallway. The outside wall of the next building is also in the bottom right corner and barely visible. There’s no space between the buildings. My window will go away at some point. I thought it would be gone already.

After all that, a bit of humor is in order. Here’s a funny vid of a horse and a cameraman.

Five years ago today, Lastech and I got sick and tired of being slaves to nicotine and so we smoked our last cigarette. We don’t miss it. More after the pointy eared people get their spot in the sun.

As an introduction to today’s Caturday, here is a comedy skit by Big Train. 🙂

Written by Lastech:

Grand Marshal Titanescu continues to surprise… It isn’t simply that I haven’t been hit, bit or hissed at in about two weeks, the Titan’s made some surprising progress socially. It might be a combination of stress from the construction next door, the Feliway working its magic, or simply gaining his trust at last. I’m not sure, but Titanescu’s become a Velcro kitty. He runs after me wherever I go, rubbing against my legs, rubbing his scent on me and even purring. Yes now we know he does purr. You can barely feel it when he’s on your lap, and certainly not hear it. But as he peels back his lips, rubbing on you, there’s no mistaking that low rumble. But wait. We’ve also been able to pick him up and move him without injury! Oh sure, he doesn’t move off a lap voluntarily, but he’ll submit to the relocation without retaliation.
Frankly, from a cat who hissed and hit us just for laughing, that is amazing!

The Great and Terrible TitanescuThe patient and amazing Tito

Miss Nightshade Jenny had a birthday. Today a gift box arrived for her from her Auntie Grace. Tomorrow, she’ll get to see her gifts and I’ll be taking pictures of her, the boys and the goodies. Then we’ll be able to thank Grace properly.

Miss Jenny, the birthday girl now flirts with the postman

Construction update: The kitties are NOT amused.

The big orange monster is working close to the building. The furry ones are hiding.

Now, back to our 5 year smoke free celebration…

It has allowed us to climb many stairs.

Yes, you read that correctly. There are 308 of those things in addition to a steep ramped section.They weren’t kiddingThat is the Point Reyes Lighthouse. It’s also the movie home of radio station KAB 1340 and Stevie Wayne. Can you remember the movie?